PLANTERSVILLE — The Dallas County Hornets kept it close early, but the Childersburg Tigers capitalized off mistakes to win 48-21 on Friday in region play.

Chris Littleton, head football coach of Dallas County High School (2-6, 0-6 Class 4A-Region 3), said his team was hurt by early mistakes.

“We made too many little mistakes in the first half and got too far behind, and our kids got down, got a little banged up,” Littleton said. “I felt like we played hard the whole game, but we just made too many little mistakes. First half, we blew a coverage, miss a block here, false start here and those things just add up and turned a close ballgame into a game that wasn’t so close.”

After forcing a Hornets’ punt, the Tigers (4-4, 3-3 Class 4A-Region 3) drove 49-yards down the field, with Tim Tilley scoring on a 5-yard touchdown that put Childersburg up 6-0 with 8:59 left in the first after a failed 2-point conversion attempt.

Dallas County responded on the ensuing kickoff, as Xavier Knight picked up a the ball on a squib kick and returned it 85-yards up the right sideline for a touchdown that made it 6-6 with 8:43 left in the opening quarter after a field 2-point conversion.

After turnovers by both teams, the next score came in the second quarter when Childersburg’s Kendarius Coleman scored on a 12-yard run that gave the Tigers a 12-6 lead with 11:52 left in the first half.

The Hornets countered with a 61-yard drive that ended with a 28-yard touchdown run up the middle by Jermere Jackson. Wyatt Sanders added the extra point for Dallas County to give the Hornets a 13-12 lead with 9:48 left in the first half.

But Coleman came up big again for the Tigers, returning the ensuing kickoff 75-yards for a touchdown that put Childersburg right back up at 20-13 after a successful 2-point conversion with 9:32 left in the first half.

The Tigers added one more touchdown in the first half on a 60-yard touchdown pass from Zack Lightsey to Courtney Reynolds.

The Tigers controlled the second half, scoring three times including a 74-yard kick return touchdown by Tylan Coleman, a 27-yard touchdown pass from Lightsey to Derrick Jones, and a 9-yard touchdown run by Tilley.

The Hornets’ final score of the game came on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Xavier Mundell to Jamarius Barnett with 6:28 left in the final quarter. Jackson scored the 2-point conversion.

Tilley led the Tigers with 139 yards rushing and two touchdowns, as Childersburg had 208 yards on the ground and 117 yards through the air.

The Hornets had 140 yards rushing and 96 yards passing on the night, as well as 12 first downs.

Dallas County will take the field again Friday at home against Elmore County in the final region game of the season for both schools.